Peace in our time

To take from Disraeli and Chamberlain, this is how I feel right now: the design for the south wall cabinets is done. I’m finally at peace with my decision, and feel confident going forward. I had been so unsettled by multiple options with my planer and my miter saw that it turned into paralysis by analysis.

Monologues included…Should I put the miter saw in the middle or the right side? Flip cart for the miter saw and planer? Planer below miter saw? Expansion room for a bigger miter saw? Where should the router table go? Should I integrate the router table in the cabinet top? Flat or tiered top?

And it went on and on. Whenever I settled on a for sure, slam dunk design I had second thoughts a day later. I was so set on one design a week ago that I was picking out my plywood before I decided to hold off and then changed my mind on the design. I’m pretty confident in this one, and I’m planning to walk away from the design phase and start gearing towards getting it built. The tool storage above it (or on another wall) will still be debated and run through until I’m happy with it.

A short virtual tour:

There are six ‘spaces,’ and I’ll refer to them in left to right order.

Space #1 will be for storage, most likely in drawers of my least used tools. The large cabinet may relocate right at this wall, and I don’t want to hit my head often.

Space #2 is an open floor for the rolling router cabinet, and should be wide enough to fit the current one.

Space #3 is an open floor for a rolling planer cart. The planer will line up with the cabinet top, and when I get the Dewalt I could thickness plane right where it is. With the Ryobi, I will have to pull it out. My hardware containers will fill the cart, and I’ll have a false floor for weight to counterbalance the planer.

Space #4 is the same as Space #1, but for more used tools I’m thinking.

Space #5 is where the miter saw will live, for the most part. Under this is storage…

…for a modular tool system.

What I planned out was that the Space #3 and Space #5 is exactly the same, so that tools mounted on a 22″x24″ piece of plywood can be mounted in either space and be used at any time. There will be plywood tabs just under the surface of the cabinet so that the bases can sit flush. I know of three modules already: dovetail jig, Kreg station and downdraft sanding box. I’ll also have regular blanks to fill in the surface for using the planer or assembling a long piece. Each module blank will be ganged and drilled for inserts so it all lines up.